THIS incredible picture of thousands of starlings flying around was taken by an ecologist who was forced to stop his car on his way to work.

Jamie Kingscott pulled up on the Somerset Levels to capture the impressive sight.

Jamie, 26, from Puriton, said: "There was several thousand of them. They were all over the place.

"They lend themselves to impressive photography.

"They show off to the camera quite nicely."

Jamie, a wildlife relief co-ordinator for Somerset World Wildlife Rescue based in East Huntspill, said the birds were unusually low to the ground.

Jamie Kingscott

Jamie Kingscott

Starlings normally fly around in murmurations much higher in the sky.

He said: "They crossed the road in front of me and then turned and crossed back over, so I just stopped the car and watched.

"I fumbled around for my phone to try and catch something of it and that was the only photo I managed.

"Then I put it on Twitter and its gone mad. It has about 3,000 likes."

He added: "They were really low, so less of the standard murmuration, but they did do a bit of a flourish to show off, and they came right over the bonnet. It was quite something."